The Akita has a short double-coat similar to that of many other northern spitz breeds such as the Siberian Husky, but long-coated dogs can be found in many litters due to a recessive gene. The Akita is a powerful, independent and dominant breed, commonly aloof with strangers but affectionate with family members. As a breed, Akitas are generally hardy, but they have been known to suffer from various genetic conditions and be sensitive to certain drugs.
Chemotherapy is not usually a single treatment, but a course of treatments. A course usually takes between 3 to 6 months, but can be more or less than that. The treatment will include one or more chemotherapy drugs that you may have into a vein (intravenous drugs), or as chemotherapy tablets or capsules.
About a week after surgery, they called with the staging and treatment plan. First, I had to be scheduled to have a port put in for the chemo, so that took place about 2 weeks after surgery. Then, a week later, I began chemo. So, in total, it was about 3.5 weeks from surgery to chemo, with surgery for the port in the middle of that. Not much time to rest in between procedures. I guess we can't give the cancer time to spread, so that's why the urgency.